Brits “Would Choose A House Based On Its Internet Speed”

A survey of prospective home owners found that 20 per cent of UK adults are prepared to pay more for a home with a good broadband connection.

18 percent said that their Internet connection had already been a consideration when moving home in the past, and, almost a quarter (23 percent) would now be likely to negotiate a lower rent or sale price when taking on a property with a poor broadband connection.

The survey by Halifax found that  residents in the South East (26 percent) were the most likely to pay more for a house with a faster Internet connection, whereas those in the East Midlands were most likely to try and negotiate a lower price for a property which was not up to speed.

Speedy

The survey, which quizzed over two thousand respondents across the UK, also found that a slow internet connection is now the second most annoying thing we can experience in our own home. Only noisy neighbours polled higher in terms of annoyance, also beating the likes of poor mobile phone signal, leaky taps and creaking floorboards.

Overall, 21 percent of men saying good broadband would tempt them to pay more for a property compared with 16 percent of women.

“Alongside outside space, private parking, and good transport links, a strong broadband signal is fast becoming a very significant feature of looking for a new home,” said Craig McKinlay from Halifax.

“As superfast broadband is now the norm at work and on our mobile phones, there is a growing expectation that we should be able to enjoy a good broadband connection at home too.”

A recent uSwitch survey found that forty percent of the UK population endure slow broadband speeds even though faster services are available. Two fifths of Britons have Internet connections slower than 5Mbps and only 15 percent enjoy superfast broadband at 30Mbps.

This is despite the government stating that it aims to bring superfast broadband to 95 percent of the UK population by 2017.

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